Field settings

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Overview

Fields are added to a meta box via the key fields. Each field is an array which contains settings to determine where and how data is loaded and saved. All fields share some common settings, but also offer unique settings per field type.

Common settings

Name	Description
name	Field label. Optional. If empty, the field input is 100% width.
id	Field ID. Required and must be unique. It will be used as meta_key when saving to the database. It’s a good practice to use only numbers, letters, and underscores.
type	Field type. Required. See below.
desc	Field description, displayed below the field input. Optional.
label_description	Label description, displayed below the field label. Optional.
std	Default value. Optional.
multiple	Does the field have multiple values (like the select field)? Optional. Default false.
class	Custom CSS class, in case you want to customize the field. Optional.
before	Custom HTML outputted before field’s HTML.
after	Custom HTML outputted after field’s HTML.
clone	Is the field clonable (repeatable)? true or false. Optional. Default false.
max_clone	Maximum number of clones. Optional. Default 0 (unlimited).
sort_clone	Ability to drag-and-drop reorder clones (true or false). Optional. Default false.
clone_default	Clone the default value of fields? true or false (default).
add_button	The text for Add more clone button. Optional. Default “+ Add more”.
clone_as_multiple	Whether to store clone values in multiple rows in the database? Optional. Default false. See this post for details.
attributes	Custom attributes for inputs. See more details.

Field types

Below is the list of all supported field types with brief description:

Field Type	Description
autocomplete	Text input that uses jQuery autocomplete library to perform the autocomplete action.
background	Set background properties. Added in version 4.13.0.
button	Display simple button. Usually used for JavaScript triggers.
button_group	Select one or multiple choices by enabling button(s) from a group. Added in version 4.13.0.
checkbox	Checkbox.
checkbox_list	List of checkboxes.
color	Color picker.
custom_html	Output custom HTML content.
date	Date picker.
datetime	Date and time picker.
divider	Simple horizontal line.
fieldset_text	Group of text inputs.
file	Simple file upload with default UI like <input type="file" />.
file_advanced	File upload with WordPress media popup.
file_input	Enter file URL or select a file from media library.
file_upload	File upload with drag and drop area.
heading	Heading text.
hidden	Input field with hidden type.
image	Similar to file but for images only.
image_advanced	Similar to file_advanced, but for images only.
image_select	Similar to radio select, but use images instead of “radio”.
image_upload or plupload_image	Similar to file_upload but for images only.
key_value	Add an unlimited group of key-value pairs.
map	Google maps.
number	Input for numbers which uses HTML5 input type="number".
oembed	Input for media from Youtube, Vimeo and all supported sites by WordPress.
password	Password input.
post	Select dropdown for posts.
radio	Radio input.
range	HTML 5 range input.
select	Select dropdown.
select_advanced	Beautiful select dropdown using select2 library.
single_image	Select or upload a single image via WordPress media popup. Added in version 4.13.0.
slider	jQuery UI slider.
switch	On/off switch with iOS style. Added in version 4.13.0.
taxonomy	Select dropdown for taxonomy terms. Doesn’t save term IDs in post meta, but set post terms.
taxonomy_advanced	Same as taxonomy but saves term IDs in post meta as a comma separated string. It doesn’t set post terms.
text	Text field.
text_list	Group of text inputs. Similar to fieldset_text.
textarea	Textarea field.
time	Time picker.
user	Select dropdown for users.
video	Upload or select a video from the Media Library using the WordPress media popup.
wysiwyg	WordPress editor.

In addition to the above field types, you can also use HTML5 input types. See this guide for details.

Field-specific settings

Besides all common settings, each field type can have its own settings. Please see more details for each field type on the left menu (section “Fields”).

To save time read and write settings for fields, we’ve already prepared some code examples that you can get from Meta Box Code Snippet Library.